The Fight
by subway20
Summary: Paige and Emily are fighting over politics. It gets ugly, but true love trumps politics, right? Paily one-shot.
_**A/N: This is just my way to deal with the whole Lindsey drama Twitter thing, I guess.**_

 _ **The brilliant sentence in the summary (True love trumps politics) is courtesy of the amazing siophiefandom, who also did the betareading. Thank you so much!**_

* * *

Emily and Paige were lying lazily on the couch, in front of the TV, on a Friday night, when it all began. They were absent-mindedly watching the evening news on CBS.

The news was all about the next Presidential election, and the candidates fighting for the primary campaign.

And then Paige said it.

"No matter who wins, it's always the same shit anyway," the auburn girl muttered.

Emily frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I'm saying... maybe we need a change, a real change for once. The whole system is corrupted."

"I know it's not perfect, but..."

Paige motioned to the screen. Walter Lump, the radical Republican candidate, was now on TV. "Maybe this guy can change that," she shrugged.

Emily straightened up and sat on the edge the couch, looking at Paige with disbelief.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm just saying that we have to try something new."

"Maybe, but... Walter Lump?!"

Paige shrugged again. "Him, or another one, it doesn't matter."

"It _does_ , Paige!" Emily said in a high-pitched voice. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"If you say so. Please can we change the subject now?"

"No, I want you to explain! I want to know why you're supporting a dangerous, homophobic and racist moron!"

Emily's face was red with fury. She stood up and started to pace around the living room.

"Em, can you please calm down?" Paige asked.

"No, I can't! And don't 'Em' me!" Emily snapped. "I'm mad at you, Paige!"

"I see that."

"And I can't believe you're a Lump supporter!"

"What? I never said that." Paige said, her voice rising.

"Oh please. You were so implying that."

"Emily, I wasn't... Anyway, what happened to freedom of speech?"

"What happened to your _sanity_?"

Things escalated quickly after that. Their yelling contest even made their next door neighbor knock loudly at the wall. (It wasn't the first time, but usually, it was for other reasons.) Emily soon started to lash out about Paige's father, whom she called a 'bigoted, closed-minded hillbilly,' and Paige snapped back that Pam Fields wasn't exactly the progressive one, either.

Deep down, they knew they were being unfair to each other (and to their parents), but they were too far gone to care.

It stopped only when Paige left the house, slamming the door behind her. She was mad at Emily, but also at herself. They usually didn't talk about politics. Actually, Paige realized, it was the first time that they'd had a talk about that topic. And it had been a disaster.

Emily was mad too, but also sad. After Paige's departure, she collapsed on the couch, crying her eyes out. It wasn't like their other fights. They were both very passionate and competitive, so they argued rather often, but this time was different.

This time, she didn't even recognize the Paige McCullers she loved.

* * *

When Paige got back home, it was night time already and Emily had locked herself in the bedroom. Paige looked sadly at the blanket and the sheets laid out on a chair. She knew what it meant, and she couldn't really blame Emily.

Paige slept on the couch that night. Except she didn't really sleep. She was feeling way too miserable for that. And her mind was racing.

After tossing and turning for hours, she finally got up, switched on her laptop and opened her email. She knew that Spencer Hastings was quite the insomniac, so there was a chance that she'd be awake too.

 _'Hey Spence_ ,' she wrote, _'I have a question, and it's important. I know it might sound weird, but what do you know exactly about Walter Lump?'_

Spencer wasn't sleeping either, and she simply answered by sending Paige some links - an interview of the controversial politician, and a few interesting articles written by political analysts.

Paige spent the rest of the night reading all this, and more, about the candidates and their programs. She also read a few things on Wikipedia about American politics. The more she read, the worse she felt about what she had said.

And, more important, she realized that she didn't share, at all, Lump's opinions on women, minorities, foreign countries, or any other topic. It also helped her to realize why Emily had reacted so strongly.

* * *

Just after dawn, on this Saturday morning, Paige McCullers (who hadn't slept at all, but who had learned a lot) left the house and came back half an hour later, with Emily's favorite pastries and a bouquet of flowers.

When Emily finally stepped outside the bedroom, she immediately smelled the scent of fresh made coffee, and when she made her way to the living room, she spotted Paige, busying herself in the kitchen.

"Hi," she just said, still feeling hurt and conflicted about what had happened between them.

"Oh, hey," Paige answered, her voice small. She put the coffee pot she was holding on the table, and took a step forward.

The two girls stared at each other for a minute, not knowing what to say, or to do.

Both had red and puffy eyes, and looked exhausted. After a while, Paige dipped her head.

"I'm sorry," she croaked.

"I'm sorry too," Emily said, overwhelmed by relief and emotion.

She could see that Paige was on the verge of tears, so she moved towards her and took her in her arms. Paige buried her head on Emily's shoulder.

"Sorry, sorry," she said again, sobbing. "I'm sorry for what I said to you. I'm so stupid and stubborn."

"I'll give you stubborn, but you're not stupid, McCullers," Emily said, hugging her tighter. "And I said horrible things to you, too. Can you forgive me?"

Paige sniffled and looked at her girlfriend, nodding. "Only if you forgive me, too."

"I already did."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

"I can't believe we fought over politics."

"Me neither... but you know, Paige, we might have different opinions on several topics… but I will never, never give up on us."

It was true. Their love was beyond that.

 **THE END**

 _ **A/N: Well, that's all. Peace, love and Paily forever, everyone.**_


End file.
